Leclerc's Monza crash didn’t come out of nowhere: this is why he crashed at 233 km/h

The opening phase of Ferrari’s home race was chaotic anyway. Leclerc, who started from P3 after benefiting from Oscar Piastri’s grid penalty, failed to strike in the first corner. Teammate Lewis Hamilton was right on his tail and then dived to the inside at the Prima Variante. The two made contact, sending Hamilton through the gravel. By that time Verstappen had already made up places, and Piastri was looking to pounce on Leclerc.

The two were battling on the opening lap and again at the start of lap two. Piastri couldn’t complete a pass. Heading towards Parabolica, however, things went badly wrong for Leclerc. Some suggested that Piastri had tapped his rear tire, but the crash footage clearly showed rear-end instability on the Ferrari. It appears Leclerc did not ‘just’ lose control of the car.

The telemetry data—which refers to remotely collecting real-time data from the car—shows that at the moment of the crash Leclerc reached a speed of 233 kilometers per hour. He was building speed on corner exit, but the snap of the rear caused him to run off the track and slam hard into the wall. In the meters before the crash, he had already reached the top speed of 233 kilometers per hour.

That, however, is not the most striking aspect of the data available from Leclerc’s crash. The key here is the throttle input, i.e., what percentage of full throttle Leclerc was using at that moment. In the meters leading up to his crash, he was running fairly consistently at 233 kilometers per hour, but he seemed to have to lift significantly twice. His full-throttle percentage drops twice from 100 percent to below 90 percent. The second time, it even drops to 83.

Footage shared by Formula 1 shows that Leclerc was still ahead of Piastri at that moment and was not directly battling in that particular corner. However, Leclerc did have to deviate from his line to give Piastri room. When he went back to 100 percent throttle, the car was not ideally positioned. The rear tires were also at the limit of available traction at that point. The rear tires therefore had no extra grip available to catch the moment. It appears this is what caused the rear to snap out so violently.

In conclusion, the incident seems to be an interplay between Leclerc’s moment of acceleration and the unstable rear of the Ferrari. He might have reduced the risk by feeding in the throttle a bit more gently, but given his altered line and the limited available traction, the margin at that moment was particularly small.

After the crash, Leclerc reported slightly reduced vision in his right eye. The Monegasque was taken to the medical center and was then allowed to go home. He left the circuit early to rest and recover ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix, which will be held in Madrid this weekend. The Ferrari driver said he still had to undergo some extra medical checks to ensure he would be cleared to participate.

GPblog learned on Monday afternoon that he is fit enough, and that he will be behind the wheel as normal during the race in the Spanish capital. Ferrari took a smart approach earlier this season and has already tested at the Madring. They head into the weekend with a bit more knowledge and data, although the rest of the teams will have their simulator data at the ready.